This is an analysis of the poem Ballade that begins with:

I know flies in milk
I know the man by his clothes...

Elements of the verse: questions and answers

The information we provided is prepared by means of a special computer program. Use the criteria sheet to understand greatest poems or improve your poetry analysis essay.

  • Rhyme scheme: XabXcdeF gbXbdhbF bebXcghF abbF Xb
  • Stanza lengths (in strings): 8,8,8,4,2,
  • Closest metre: iambic tetrameter
  • Сlosest rhyme: alternate rhyme
  • Сlosest stanza type: tercets
  • Guessed form: ballad stanza
  • Metre: 11101 1101101 1111001 11010101 110111101 111101 11110111 11101111 11011010 1101101 110101010 1101101 1110100101 1111111 11011010 11101111 1101101 11111110 1110011 11011111 111111 11010010 1101001 11101111 11111 110101101 11110101 11101111 111010
  • Amount of stanzas: 5
  • Average number of symbols per stanza: 171
  • Average number of words per stanza: 36
  • Amount of lines: 30
  • Average number of symbols per line: 28 (strings are less long than medium ones)
  • Average number of words per line: 6
  • Mood of the speaker:

    The punctuation marks are various. Neither mark predominates.

  • The author used lexical repetitions to emphasize a significant image; i, know, by, and are repeated.

    The poet used anaphora at the beginnings of some neighboring lines. The same word i is repeated.

    The author used the same word i at the beginnings of some neighboring stanzas. The figure of speech is a kind of anaphora.

    The poet repeated the same word myself at the end of some neighboring stanzas. The poetic device is a kind of epiphora.

If you write a school or university poetry essay, you should Include in your explanation of the poem:

  • summary of Ballade;
  • central theme;
  • idea of the verse;
  • history of its creation;
  • critical appreciation.

Good luck in your poetry interpretation practice!

More information about poems by François Villon